INDEPENDENCE — It used to be that undereducated adults were able to get into high-paying jobs in the Twin Counties through fields such as manufacturing, construction and agriculture.

Today, those jobs are in short supply or have moved offshore, making a high school diploma or equivalent that much more important.

The Mount Rogers Regional Adult Education Program has set out to change the high percentage of residents who do not hold a high school diploma by offering General Education Degree (GED) classes frequently and at no cost to residents.

HILLSVILLE — Delays on construction efforts to improve facilities for grades sixth through 12 in Carroll schools could cost millions of extra dollars, according to a recent study by Construction Control Corporation presented to the Carroll School Board.

The first Phase III Planning Team meeting is Sept. 29 at Woodlawn School.

Editors Note: This information is taken from open court records and is a matter of public record. The listings are complete. The newspaper, as a matter of fairness, will not honor requests to omit any listing.

For information on this column or questions, call Terri King at 236-5178, ext. 213.

District Court

These sentences were recorded in May in the Galax General District Court Office, Galax. Sentences may be appealed:

The Free Clinic of the Twin Counties is struggling to remain in operation due to lack of funds. But at a critical point, Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company donated $25,000 to the clinic—the biggest single donation and something the clinic’s executive director Dina Slusher is calling a “blessing.”

HILLSVILLE — With the state developing more new prisons in the future, Carroll could possibly lock one of those down, says the chairman of the county's Prison Study Committee.

In the process of gathering information on the long-term plans of the Virginia Department of Corrections, J.B. Gardner has learned that state officials see the need for as many as five new correctional facilities in the future.

HILLSVILLE — One day after the Hillsville Fire Department responded to a call at a mobile home at 243 Knob Hill Lane, a Carroll County grand jury indicted the man who lived there for arson.

In addition to the direct indictment against Travis Ray Hall, 25, he also has been charged by the Carroll Sheriff's Office with making a felony threat to burn the home he shared with Ashley Hall, according to Investigator Shannon Goad.

Hall's wife took out a warrant against him, charging him with misdemeanor assault and battery.

The Galax School Board announced that it will begin the search for the next schools superintendent.

After 43 years as an educator and more than 12 years with Galax City Public Schools, Superintendent Sam Cook, who will turn 65 in November, will retire at the end of 2008 and return to his hometown in Franklin County.